


Sickly

by SmokySky



Series: Tommy Shelby's 12 Days Of Christmas [6]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Advent Calendar Drabble, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, F/M, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmokySky/pseuds/SmokySky
Summary: 12 Days of Christmas Advent Calendar fic based on the prompt: Sickly.Mabel isn't well. There isn't much Tommy can do, except try and make her feel better while she's poorly.
Relationships: Tommy Shelby/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Tommy Shelby's 12 Days Of Christmas [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559590
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	Sickly

**Author's Note:**

> And we're back to our regularly scheduled programing with a new one-shot! A quick reminder in case this anyone isn't reading this series in order, I'm attempting to write 12 short fics for the 12 days of Christmas, with 12 Christmas-y themes _(yep, getting nervous I won't manage, but there you go)_. All the stories will be focused on the same characters, and set roughly in chronological order, but there's real overarching plot-line here, they're just little drabbles written for fun.
> 
> Tommy wants to help out in what little ways he can when Mabel gets the flu, even if his methods are a little bit unconventional...

“You look like shit.”

“Well, if you’re going to continue being so lovely, you can fuck right off.” Mabel snapped, glaring at him from inside her room.

Tommy grinned, perching on Mabel’s windowsill and trying to resist the urge to tell her that he loved it when she swore. Her accent was so posh - and most of the time she was so well-spoken, he just found it amazing when she swore. To this day, he maintained that the best present he’d ever had was when Mabel called Greta a cunt because she had called Tommy and idiot for not wanting to date her.

As if Tommy would want to date someone like Greta, when he was around Mabel all the time.

Mabel, who even with her bright red cheeks, raspy voice, and dark circles under her eyes, was still the best thing Tommy had ever seen. Despite only being fifteen, Mabel put most of the women Tommy saw to shame with her curly blonde hair, cute button nose, and -  _ in Tommy’s opinion _ \- enchanting hazel eyes. Even when she was dishevelled from being unwell: her hair tangled, nose running, and eyes bleary from Tommy was guessing a lack of sleep. She was still the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.

“I brought you some of Polly’s special tea.”

Mabel pulled a face: “That shit’s disgusting.”

Tommy’s grin turned into a smirk: “But it works.”

“Just give it to me.” Mabel sighed, holding her hand out to for the flask Polly had handed Tommy before he ‘snuck’ out.

He was pretty sure that everyone, including Mabel’s father and brothers, knew that he spent most nights in Mabel’s room...but they all knew Mabel knew nothing about how Tommy felt for her, and they all knew he was too afraid to say or do anything, so they allowed him to spend time with her in her room, because - as Edward had put it - it wasn’t like he was going to get up to anything too fun. And, sure, they were pricks for acting like he was a coward, but if it meant Tommy wasn’t getting kicked out, then he’d accept it.

Which was why he happily settled on the edge of Mabel’s bed, and let her lean against his side as she drank the tea Polly had made for her and pulled disgusted faces as she did so.

“Why are all the helpful things so awful to drink?” she whined.

Tommy chuckled: “I never want to hear you tell me off for moaning about medicine ever again. You are so much worse than me.”

Mabel smacked the now empty flask against Tommy’s shoulder: “I’m never sick, so I get to moan. You’re sick almost once a fortnight, so you’ve got no excuse.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Crybaby.”

Most people Tommy would’ve smacked for that comment...but obviously not Mabel. In spite of his growing reputation as someone to be respected around Small Heath, Mabel still treated him like an idiot who had accidently started a snowball fight with her, and lost. And that was maybe what he liked most about their friendship; no matter what changed around them, their friendship always remained the same.

It was why he couldn’t ever try and change their relationship - but even though sometimes he ached with how much he wanted to tell Mabel he loved her, Tommy knew their decade-long friendship awarded him some rights some other boys would never have...at least not until Mabel married someone, but Tommy tried not to think about that. Instead he focused on what he  _ did  _ have with her - like being allowed in her room while everyone else was asleep, or the fact that he got to lay next to her on her bed with her head tucked under his chin, rubbing her back as she sniffed past her running nose. He didn’t even mind the fact she might be getting snot on him - instead, he nuzzled his face against her hair, and tucked her blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Tommy carefully slid under the first blanket, and pulled Mabel closer so they could share warmth just like Tommy did with his brothers when there was no firewood left. Mabel didn’t care - she was half asleep by that point, and just mumbled happily as she started to warm up a little.

He knew he’d have to sneak out before it got too close to the rest of the house waking up  _ (just because Mister Oakes tolerated him spending the night here didn’t mean he’d let Tommy get away without a clip round the ear if he found him) _ , but for now he would settle for getting to cuddle a sleeping Mabel and maybe get a few hours shut-eye himself - because he wouldn’t want to disturb her, obviously.

_ He was already going to Hell...one more selfish act wasn’t going to hurt his chances at getting to eternal paradise. _

__

_ So he might as well enjoy what good things he could on earth. _

Still, it didn’t feel selfish when Tommy felt Mabel’s mouth curve into a smile against his shoulder just before he drifted off to sleep, or when she tightened her hands in his shirt when he tried to pull away a few hours later. If anything, it was enough to make him want to stay in bed with her, far more than the prospect of walking home through the sleet that had started while he was asleep.

Of course, a week later, he was regretting having not stayed in Mabel’s room and having just hidden under her bed when anyone came to check on her. Because, like Mabel said, he got sick on a nearly fortnightly basis.

And it seemed the fortnight had come round again.

All thanks to the fucking sleet. And, if she ever asked him, because of Mabel. Mabel, who was currently standing in the doorway to his bedroom, one of the seven blankets from her bed tucked under one arm, and a steaming mug of Polly’s medicinal tea in the other hand.

“You look like shit.”

“I hate you.”

Mabel grinned, kicking the door shut behind her and crossing the room to hand Tommy his tea: “You feeling poorly, Tommy?”

“I hate you _ so much _ .”

“I love you too, Tommy. I love you too.”

_ If only. _

__

__

__

Still, being sick meant that Tommy got to spend another night curled up in bed with Mabel: his head pillowed in the space where her neck met her shoulder, breathing in the faint smell of lavender soap and herbal tea.

As far as Tommy was concerned, it made getting sick worth it.

He'd have to walk home through sleet more often.


End file.
